Garnock Hill

Garnock Hill
BT10
Dunmurry

Garnock Hill & Garnock Hill Park – Dunmurry, West Belfast

Irish: Cnoc Ghairneáig (Garnock Hill) / Páirc Chnoc Ghairneáig (Garnock Hill Park)

Origin of the name:
The name Garnock is a surname imported from Ayrshire, Scotland. It derives from the Scottish Gaelic Gairneag or Goirneág, terms associated with the River Garnock and translated as “the glen of the crying river” or “little cryer.” The name was transplanted to Ulster by Scottish settlers and survives today in these street names.

Location:
Both Garnock Hill and Garnock Hill Park are cul-de-sacs off Black’s Road in Dunmurry, south-west Belfast. They lie close to the M1 motorway and Colin Glen Forest Park.

Early history:
Before development, the Black’s Road area consisted of open countryside. Oral histories describe hedged lanes and fields where children played and picked apples. One resident remembered moving from the city to Black’s Road in the 1950s as being “like moving from hell … to heaven.” The land once formed part of the McCance family’s Suffolk estate; John McCance owned Farmhill on Black’s Road in the 18th century.

From farmhouse to housing estate:
A property called Garnock Hill is recorded in a 1936 classified advert and a 1943 street directory as the home of the Cunningham family. The farmhouse’s name was later adopted for the new cul-de-sacs built in this area. Today, estate agents describe Garnock Hill as a small residential development of detached houses near schools, shops, and parkland.

Interface context:
The streets are situated on the boundary between the predominantly Protestant Suffolk estate and the predominantly Catholic Lenadoon area. In 1997, community activists from the Suffolk Community Forum met with residents of Garnock Hill/Arlington to address tensions and reduce violence at this interface, underlining the area’s role in West Belfast’s peaceline history.

Summary:
Garnock Hill and Garnock Hill Park are suburban cul-de-sacs named after a Scottish river whose name means “crying river.” Built on former farmland, they retain echoes of their rural origins while standing at a significant interface in Belfast, where local communities have worked to overcome division.

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